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And we can now reveal that 16,999 of those – almost half of the city's total – came from a single camera in Embankment Road.

Mr Ayre's car was snapped by the camera while he was driving out of Plymouth along Embankment Road on August 26.

He won his appeal against the £30 fine on the grounds that the road signs were misleading.

But the council then challenged the decision of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal (TPT).

A second review hearing took place last Wednesday (27), and the 63-year-old now faces an anxious wait for the result.

Mr Ayre, who lives in Whitleigh, says he was surprised to receive the initial fine, arguing the signage at the Cattedown roundabout can cause confusion and lead drivers into a bus lane.

"I was horrified really," he said. "I have been driving in Plymouth since 1970, I was not aware of that area having a bus lane camera. I was pretty upset about it all.

"When I won the appeal I was overjoyed.

"I wanted to inform the public that there should be refunds coming in the post to people that have been fined. That never happened, of course."

Mr Ayre's initial appeal was upheld by the TPT on January 22 – just four days after The Herald quoted council chief Mark Coker as saying: "We are the only authority that has not yet had any penalties overturned."

Adjudicator Deborah Gibson ruled that the advanced warning sign on the roundabout "does not give motorists adequate time to respond" to avoid the bus lane.

But at last week's hearing the council argued that all the signs and road markings are in keeping with Department for Transport (DfT) regulations.

Mark Lawrence, a lawyer representing the council's transport team, said: "We have been left somewhat bemused by this decision.

"We have provided adequate information for persons using the road.

"This information, in the form of signs and road markings, has been approved by the DfT and the signs have been placed in positions where they are not obscured and are clearly visible."

Adjudicator Jonathan Middleton carried out a site visit following the hearing, and a decision is expected in the next few weeks.

The council says it will not pursue Mr Ayre for the money, even if the appeal is upheld. But Mr Ayre, who has also lodged an appeal against a second fine after he was caught in a bus lane in Tavistock Road, Derriford, says the case could set a precedent for other motorists.

"I feel the number of people that are getting fines through their doors is horrendous," he said. "It just beggars belief that in a city this size there are so many fines coming out of those cameras.

"You would think by now, six months on, it would have dropped substantially. But it hasn't."

Another motorist, Ashley Nayeck, has also now successfully appealed against a fine.

He was slapped with a PCN for driving in the Embankment Road bus lane just days after Mr Ayre.

The fine was given for an alleged contravention on August 31 last year, but the TPT adjudicator ruled that the council did not provide the necessary documentation and upheld Mr Nayeck's appeal.

The council, which has not challenged that decision, failed to provide to the tribunal a certificate containing a witness statement from the officer who issued the original PCN, the TPT said.

The local authority said 16,999 fines had been issued by the end of February for the Embankment Road bus lane.

72 comments

My wife & I had a great mini break in Plymouth last month. First time in Plymouth for 10 years. On our list of things to do again. But 2 days later a letter from Plymouth Council fining me for getting caught in this bus lane trap. Another car must have entered shortly before me and he was stopped in the bus lane with no way of getting out of it and finally carried on. You Plymouth locals seem to think the signs are hopeless. They hardly exist for visitors. If it had good signing its a fair cop. With bad signing its a trap. 17000 drivers trapped by this camera must tell your Council something. I don't suppose the Council give a damn as the dirty work collecting these fines is outsourced to Bristol. Is tourism the life blood of the West country? Thanks Plymouth, we won't be coming back.

I got caught by this camera a few months back, but had no idea about where I could have gone wrong, as I have driven down that road many times before.
I have today unwittingly driven through it again and only realised as I was driving in to it as there is no indication that they have changed the road layout (for no purpose) before you actually get to it.
A straight stretch of road with a 30 meter section now deemed to be off limits to motorists is so ludicrous as to be almost laughable and the only reason can be to raise revenue.
Shame on you Plymouth councillors.

Its funny that the comments from people compaining are from people who have been driving for 'many years' you would have thought that you may have noticed the 6ft plus signs on Exeter street.
Or maybe you should admit that you didn't see the signs and grow up.

well all i can say is this. I am Plymouth born and bred, and I got confused by this bus lane. Until i was actually on it, I had no idea it was forbidden. Instead of driving through, which was the safest bet, I felt obliged to reverse out of this buslane so as to avoid any penalty. The simple act of reversing created a lot of danger. This is sheer stupidity on the part of the road markings, don't really care what standard they comply with - they have to be understandable by the reasonable [Plymouth] person. Fair play to the guy who got off - now leave him alone and correct the problem - that's what I say.
Michael Fesler [Jakarta]

Don't blame me for your posts being removed Puggie. Maybe you should read the house rules.
We are all legally liable for what we write on this site, for a comment to be offensive, only one person has to be offended.
And for the record I have never had a comment deleted or commented on the bedroom tax article. You must be thinking of someone else..

Seems your lOSING the debate arthur19791.... by having my comments deleted, you don't like it when the shoes on the other foot.
I see your friends are putting up the usual comments on the article of the bedroom tax... looking through some of them a Councilor lost his position for similar comments that being made over there... and the comment was made by nickthompson if that ain't abuse I don't know what is..

democracy does not let us have a debate i didnt find his comments offensive hes entitled to his opinions but in the potically correct country we have to watch what we say cant say anything anything innocently without someone sulking